Tasting Report: The Real Marlborough Man

Piercing eyes, curious ears, carefully chosen words and an “I do it how I like it” attitude makes for a formidable presence and, in a part of the wine world that is riddled with commercial wine cooks, copycats and imitators, Kevin Judd really stands out for all the right reasons. When I caught up with him recently in Melbourne to taste through half a dozen vintages of his “Wild Sauvignon” he was in stunning form. So too were his wines.

Judd’s label is Greywacke (his twitter handle is @greywacker) and if there’s anyone that can rightly claim the name of the region’s giant grey river pebbles it is him. He started this whole Marlborough sauvignon thing and he is seeing it through some thirty years later in sporting form.

The mini-vertical of Greywacke Wild Sauvignon was in many ways a critical standpoint on the world-renowned wine style that is Marlborough sauvignon blanc. Judd likes his properly ripe, very concentrated, texturally complex and not too wacky. Each vintage, even the dramatically cooler 2012, showed an expert eye and a level of polish that many mere winemaking mortals will unlikely ever reach.

Aside from sauvignon, the pinot he makes from the clay soils of the Southern Valleys has earthy appeal and real majesty in terms of complexity and texture, and Judd’s chardonnay has an ongoing dalliance with worldly reductive spunk that is well worth a look.

Nick is a renowned Australian wine writer, author, presenter and filmmaker who reports on his worldwide wine tasting experiences for JamesSuckling.com.